Predictive Keyboard

ABSTRACT

A predictive keyboard is described. In an implementation, a keyboard comprises a plurality of indications of letters arranged, one to another, according to a QWERTY layout. Two rows of keys are arranged such that at least one of the keys includes at least two of the indications from at least two of the rows of the QWERTY layout.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S.Patent Application No. 60/992,608, filed Dec. 5, 2007 and titled“Devices, Features and Systems for Mobile Communications”, the entiredisclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

Portable devices, such as gaming devices, mobile communications devicesand so on, have become an integral part of everyday life. Additionally,the functionality that may be accessed using these devices hasincreased. For example, advances have been made to provide a variety ofdifferent communication techniques, e.g., text messaging and email.However, inclusion of these additional communication techniques onmobile communications devices having traditional form factors may causethese devices to become unwieldy and less suitable for mobileapplications. For example, traditional input devices that were employedby these communication techniques may be less suitable when utilized bytraditional mobile communications devices than when implemented by fullsize devices.

SUMMARY

A predictive keyboard is described. In an implementation, a keyboardcomprises a plurality of indications of letters arranged, one toanother, according to a QWERTY layout. Two rows of keys are arrangedsuch that at least one of the keys includes at least two of theindications from at least two of the rows of the QWERTY layout.

In an implementation, a mobile communications device comprises akeyboard and one or more modules. The keyboard has indications ofletters arranged according to a QWERTY layout across two rows of keyssuch that at least one of the keys includes at least two of theindications of letters from different rows of the QWERTY layout. The oneor more modules are configured to predict a desired word from one ormore inputs received via one or more of the keys of the keyboard.

In an implementation, a method includes receiving one or more inputsfrom a keyboard having indications of letters arranged according to aQWERTY layout across two rows of keys such at least one of the keysincludes at least two of the indications of letters from different rowsof the QWERTY layout. A word is predicted based on the one or moreinputs.

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subjectmatter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The detailed description is described with reference to the accompanyingfigures. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference numberidentifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. Theuse of the same reference numbers in different instances in thedescription and the figures may indicate similar or identical items.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an example implementation of an examplemobile communications device in accordance with one or more embodimentsof devices, features, and systems for mobile communications.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of an example implementation showing akeyboard of the mobile communications device of FIG. 1 in greaterdetail.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of an example implementation showing themobile communications device of FIGS. 1 and 2 in a side view.

FIG. 4 is an illustration of various components of an example devicethat can be implemented in various embodiments as any type of a mobilecommunication device to implement embodiments of devices, features, andsystems for mobile communications.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram depicting a procedure in an exampleimplementation in which a desired word is predicted based on one or moreinputs received via one or more keys of the keyboard that includesindications of letters of a QWERTY layout across two rows of keys.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Overview

Users continually desire increased functionality from portable devices,e.g., gaming devices, wireless phones, mobile messaging devices,calendaring devices, and so on. For example, users may maintain acalendar, a list of contacts, send and receive text messages, access theInternet, send and receive email, take pictures and so on. However,interaction with this increased functionality in traditional mobilecommunications devices may be difficult due to a traditional formfactors that were employed to keep the device “portable”, whichtraditionally resulted in small keys that were difficult to use and/or alarge form factor that became less and less portable in order to providesufficient space for each of the keys of a keyboard.

Predictive keyboard techniques are described. In an implementation,letters of a QWERTY keyboard that were traditionally provided usingthree rows of keys are provided using two rows of keys. Indications ofletters, for example, may be arranged, one to another, according to atraditional QWERTY layout in three rows. However, these indications maybe spread across two rows of keys such that at least some of the keyshave a plurality of indications.

For instance, a single key of the keyboard may include indications forletters “q”, “w” and “a”. This technique may be continued acrossadditional keys, e.g., another key of the keyboard may includeindications for the letters “s”, “z” and “x” and so on. Therefore, inthis instance indications of letters in a “middle” row of a QWERTYlayout may alternate between the top and bottom rows of keys of thekeyboard. Thus, a user may be presented with a familiar QWERTY layouteven though two rows of keys are used to implement the layout.

Predictive techniques may then be employed to determine which word islikely desired by a user that is interacting with the keys, e.g., suchas to auto complete the word. In this way, the overall amount of spaceconsumed by the keyboard may be reduced (e.g., a height of the keyboardmay be reduced), thereby making the keyboard better suited for portabledevices. Additionally, each of the keys themselves may be made larger(when compared to a traditional QWERTY layout in which each of theletters is provided on its own separate key) thereby aiding a user'sselection of the keys.

In the following discussion, a variety of example implementations of apredictive keyboard are shown. Additionally, a variety of differentdevices that may employ a predictive keyboard are described, which maybe implemented in that example as well as in other described examples.Accordingly, example implementations are illustrated of a few of avariety of contemplated implementations. Further, although a mobilecommunications device having one or more modules that are configured toprovide telephonic functionality are described, a variety of otherportable devices are also contemplated, such as dedicated messagingdevices, game devices and so forth.

Example Implementations

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an example implementation 100 of a mobilecommunications device 102 in accordance with one or more embodiments ofdevices, features, and systems for mobile communications. The mobilecommunications device 102 is illustrated as assuming a plurality ofconfigurations, examples of which include a first configuration 104 anda second configuration 106.

The mobile communications device 102 is further illustrated as includinga first housing 108 and a second housing 110 that are connected via aslide 112 such that the first and second housing may move (e.g., slide)in relation to one another. Although sliding is described, it should bereadily apparent that a variety of other movement techniques are alsocontemplated, e.g., a pivot, a hinge and so on.

The first housing 108 includes a display device 114 (e.g., atouchscreen) that may be used to output a variety of data, such as acaller identification (ID), information related to text messages asillustrated, email, multimedia messages, Internet browsing, game play,music, video and so on.

The second housing 110 is illustrated as including a keyboard 116 thatmay be used to provide inputs to the mobile communications device 102.Although the keyboard 116 is illustrated as a QWERTY keyboard, a varietyof other examples are also contemplated, such as a twelve key numericpad found on basic telephones, keyboards configured for other languages(e.g., Cyrillic) and so on.

In the example shown in FIG. 1, the first and second housings 108, 110of the mobile communications device 102 are rectangular. For example, aplane defined by an outer surface of the display device 114 may beparallel to a plane of the first housing 108 that approximates arectangle, which may be the same as or different from the plane definedby the display device 114. In other words, the width and height of theplane taken from the first housing 108 that is parallel to the othersurface of the display device 114 is greater than one-to-one. Likewise,the second housing 110 may be considered rectangular along a plane thatis parallel to and/or is the same as an outer surface of the keyboard116 disposed within the second housing 110.

In the first configuration 104, the mobile communications device 102 isclosed such that the first housing 108 covers the second housing 110.Consequently, the keyboard 116 disposed on the second housing 110 iscovered and is not available to receive input from a user of the mobilecommunications device 102. In an implementation, telephonicfunctionality is still available when the mobile communications device102 is in the first configuration 104, e.g., to receive a telephonecall.

In the second configuration 106, the first housing 108 is moved (e.g.,slid) “away” from the second housing 110 using the slide 112. In thisexample configuration, at least a majority of the keys of the keyboard116 is exposed such that the exposed keys are available to receiveinputs from a user. Accordingly, the second configuration 106 may beconsidered an “open” configuration. Further, the second configuration106 results in an extended rectangular form factor of the mobilecommunications device 102 as contrasted with the rectangular form factorof the mobile communications device 102 in the first configuration 104.In an implementation, the planes of the first and second housings 110,112 that are used to define the rectangular form factor are parallel toeach other, although other implementations are also contemplated.

In the illustrated implementation 100, the display device 114 remainsviewable by a user in each configuration, examples of which are shown inthe first and second configurations 104, 106. In the first configuration104, example text “Text Message from Sara” is illustrated as beingdisplayed on the display device 114. Additionally, the example text isillustrated as being orientated with respect to the second housing 110,which in the illustrated implementation 100 the example text andindications of functions of the keyboard 116 (e.g., numbers and/orletters) are aligned, generally.

In the second configuration 106, the example text is again illustratedas orientated with respect to the second housing 110 as was previouslyshown and described in relation to the first configuration 104. Forinstance, example text “Text Message from Sara” displayed on the displaydevice 114 is approximately aligned with the keyboard 116, e.g.,indications of text for respective keys of the keyboard 116. Thus, inthis manner a user of the mobile communications device 102 is providedwith a consistent and intuitive approach to interaction with the mobilecommunications device 102 in a plurality of configurations, e.g., thefirst and second configurations 104, 106.

The rectangular form factor employed by the mobile communications device102 may be suitable to support a wide variety of features. For example,the keyboard 116 is illustrated as supporting a QWERTY configuration.This form factor may be particularly convenient to a user to utilize thepreviously described functionality of the mobile communications device102, such as to compose texts, play games, check email, “surf” theInternet and so on.

The keyboard 16 is illustrated as having a reduced height 118 throughimplementation using two rows of keys. Even though two rows of keys areutilized, indications are provided that conform with a traditionalQWERTY layout that typically arranges letters into three rows. In thisway, the user is provided with a familiar QWERTY layout in a reducedform factor, further discussion of which may be found in relation to thefollowing figure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example implementation 200 showing the keyboard116 of FIG. 1 in greater detail. The keyboard 116 is illustrated ashaving a first row 202 of keys and a second row 204 of keys. Even thoughfirst and second rows of keys 202, 204 are utilized, indications ofletters are arranged according to a traditional QWERTY layout havingthree rows. For example, a first row of indications includes a letters“Q”, “W”, “E”, “R”, “T”, “Y”, “U”, “I”, “O” and “P”. Thus, each of thefirst row of indications of letters is included in the first row 202 ofkeys of the keyboard 116. Continuing with this example, a third row ofindications includes letters “Z”, “X”, “C”, “V”, “B”, “N” and “M”. Eachof indications of letters in the third row of the QWERTY layout isincluded in the second row 204 of keys of the keyboard 116.

The second row of indications of letters of the QWERTY layout, however,in the keyboard 116 of FIG. 2 alternate between inclusion in the firstand second rows 202, 204. For example, the indication of the letter “A”is included on a first key 206 in the first row 202 with indications ofthe letters “Q” and “W”. The indication of the letter “S”, however, isillustrated as being included on a first key 208 of the second row 204with letters “Z” and “X”.

Letters included in the second row of indications in the QWERTY layoutmay continue to alternate between the first and second rows 202, 204 ofkeys as illustrated in FIG. 2. For instance, the second, third, fourthand fifth keys 210, 212, 214, 216 of the first row 202 may alternateinclusion of indications of letters with the second, third and fourthkeys 218, 220, 222 of the second row 204. Thus, keys in the first row202 are staggering in relation to the keys in the second row 204.

Functionality may also be included on the keyboard 116 in addition toentry of letters. For example, buttons 224, 226 may be used fornavigation functions such as “up” shown for a button 224 and “down”shown for button 226. Punctuation may also be entered, examples of whichare shown in relation to button 228. “Space” and “enter” indications arealso shown in relation to buttons 230, 232, respectively. Additionally,numbers may also be entered, such as a number “1” which is illustratedfor the first key 206 of the first row 202. A variety of otherfunctionality and indications for functionality are also contemplated. Auser may then interact with the illustrated keys to input a variety ofdata, further discussion of which may be found in relation to thefollowing procedures.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example implementation 300 showing the mobilecommunications device 102 of FIGS. 1 and 2 in a side view. Asillustrated, the first housing 108 substantially covers the secondhousing 110 such that the keyboard 116 of FIGS. 1 and 2 is covered andtherefore protected from inadvertent input, contamination, and so on.Further, edges of the first and second housings 108, 110 are illustratedas rounded such that the mobile communications device 102 may becomfortably grasped by a user. A variety of other implementations arealso contemplated.

FIG. 4 illustrates various components of an example device 400 that canbe implemented in various embodiments as any type of a mobilecommunication device to implement embodiments of devices, features, andsystems for mobile communications. For example, device 400 can beimplemented as any of the mobile communications devices 102 describedwith reference to respective FIGS. 1-3. Device 400 can also beimplemented to access a network-based service, such as a contentservice.

Device 400 includes input(s) 402 that may include Internet Protocol (IP)inputs as well as other input devices, such as the keyboard 116 of FIGS.1-2. Device 400 further includes communication interface(s) 404 that canbe implemented as any one or more of a wireless interface, any type ofnetwork interface, and as any other type of communication interface. Anetwork interface provides a connection between device 400 and acommunication network by which other electronic and computing devicescan communicate data with device 400. A wireless interface enablesdevice 400 to operate as a mobile communication device for wirelesscommunications.

Device 400 also includes one or more processors 406 (e.g., any ofmicroprocessors, controllers, and the like) which process variouscomputer-executable instructions to control the operation of device 400and to communicate with other electronic devices. Device 400 can beimplemented with computer-readable media 408, such as one or more memorycomponents, examples of which include random access memory (RAM) andnon-volatile memory (e.g., any one or more of a read-only memory (ROM),flash memory, EPROM, EEPROM, etc.).

Computer-readable media 408 provides data storage to store content anddata 410, as well as device applications and any other types ofinformation and/or data related to operational aspects of device 400.For example, an operating system 412 can be maintained as a computerapplication with the computer-readable media 408 and executed onprocessor(s) 406. Device applications can also include a communicationmanager module 414 (which may be used to provide telephonicfunctionality) and a media manager 416.

Device 400 also includes an audio and/or video output 418 that providesaudio and/or video data to an audio rendering and/or display system 420.The audio rendering and/or display system 420 can be implemented asintegrated component(s) of the example device 400, and can include anycomponents that process, display, and/or otherwise render audio, video,and image data. Device 400 can also be implemented to provide a usertactile feedback, such as vibrate and haptics.

The communication manager module 414 is further illustrated as includinga predictive module 422. The predictive module 422 is representative offunctionality to predict a desired word from one or more inputs receivedvia the keyboard 116 of FIGS. 1 and 2. For example, the predictivemodule 422 may compare inputs received via the keyboard 116 of FIGS. 1and 2 and compare the inputs to a prediction dictionary to determine oneor more words that have a likelihood of being desired by a user based onthe inputs. The determined one or more words may then be enteredautomatically or output for verification by the user (e.g., such as toprovide auto complete functionality), further discussion of which may befound in relation to the following procedures.

Generally, the blocks may be representative of modules that areconfigured to provide represented functionality. Further, any of thefunctions described herein can be implemented using software, firmware(e.g., fixed logic circuitry), manual processing, or a combination ofthese implementations. The terms “module,” “functionality,” and “logic”as used herein generally represent software, firmware, or a combinationof software and firmware. In the case of a software implementation, themodule, functionality, or logic represents program code that performsspecified tasks when executed on a processor (e.g., CPU or CPUs). Theprogram code can be stored in one or more computer readable memorydevices. The features of the techniques described above areplatform-independent, meaning that the techniques may be implemented ona variety of commercial computing platforms having a variety ofprocessors.

Example Procedures

The following discussion describes predictive keyboard techniques thatmay be implemented utilizing the previously described systems anddevices. Aspects of each of the procedures may be implemented inhardware, firmware, or software, or a combination thereof. Theprocedures are shown as a set of blocks that specify operationsperformed by one or more devices and are not necessarily limited to theorders shown for performing the operations by the respective blocks. Inportions of the following discussion, reference will be made to theenvironment and devices of FIGS. 1-4.

FIG. 5 depicts a procedure in an example implementation 500 in which adesired word is predicted based on one or more inputs received via oneor more keys of the keyboard that includes indications of letters of aQWERTY layout across two rows of keys. One or more inputs are receivedfrom a keyboard having indications of letters arranged according to aQWERTY layout across two rows of keys such that at least one of the keysincludes at least two of the indications of letters from different rowsof the QWERTY layout (block 502). For example, the keys of the keyboardmay be displayed on a touchscreen display of a portable device (e.g., agaming device), preconfigured from hardware on a mobile communicationsdevice, and so on.

A word is predicted based on the one or more inputs (block 504). Thisprediction may be performed in a variety of ways to arrive at a wordthat has increased likelihood of being a word intended to be input by auser. For example, the one or more inputs may be compared with one ormore entries in a prediction dictionary (block 506). The predicted wordmay then be output (block 508), such as to verify that the output wordwas desired by a user that provided the one or more inputs (block 510).In another implementation, however, the word may be automaticallyentered without verifying that the user specifically intended that word.A variety of other implementations are also contemplated, such as tocease the prediction of the desired word when punctuation and or othernon-alphanumeric character (e.g., a space or enter key) is encountered.

Although the invention has been described in language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the invention defined in the appended claims is not necessarilylimited to the specific features or acts described. Rather, the specificfeatures and acts are disclosed as example forms of implementing theclaimed invention.

1. A mobile communications device comprising: a keyboard havingindications of letters arranged according to a QWERTY layout across tworows of keys such that at least one said key includes at least two saidindications of letters from different rows of the QWERTY layout; and oneor more modules to predict a desired word from one or more inputsreceived via one or more said keys of the keyboard.
 2. A mobilecommunications device as described in claim 1, wherein the keys in afirst said row are staggered in relation to the keys in a second saidrow.
 3. A mobile communications device as described in claim 2, wherein:the keys in the first said row of the keyboard include indications ofthe letters “q”, “w”, “e”, “r”, “t”, “y”, “u”, “i”, “o” and “p”; and thekeys in the second said row of the keyboard include indications of theletters “z”, “x”, “c”, “v”, “b”, “n” and “m”.
 4. A mobile communicationsdevice as described in claim 2, wherein: a first said key in the firstsaid row of the keyboard includes particular said indications thatinclude “q”, “w” and “a”; a second said key in the first said row of thekeyboard includes particular said indications that include “e”, “r” and“d”; a third said key in the first said row of the keyboard includesparticular said indications that include “t”, “y” and “g”; a fourth saidkey in the first said row of the keyboard includes particular saidindications that include “u”, “i” and “j”; a fifth said key in the firstsaid row of the keyboard includes particular said indications thatinclude “o”, “p” and “l”; a first said key in the second said row of thekeyboard includes particular said indications that include “s”, “z” and“x”; a second said key in the second said row of the keyboard includesparticular said indications that include “f”, “c” and “v”; a third saidkey in the second said row of the keyboard includes particular saidindications that include “h”, “b” and “n”; and a fourth said key in thesecond said row of the keyboard includes particular said indicationsthat include “k” and “m”.
 5. A mobile communications device as describedin claim 1, wherein the at least one said key includes at least two saidindications of letters taken from a first said row of the QWERTY layoutand another said indication of a letter is taken from a second said rowof the QWERTY layout.
 6. A mobile communications device as described inclaim 5, wherein another said key includes at least two said indicationsof letters taken from a third said row of the QWERTY layout and yetanother said indication of a letter taken from the second said row ofthe QWERTY layout.
 7. A mobile communications device as described inclaim 1, wherein the at least one said key includes at least two saidindications of letters taken from a first said row of the QWERTY layoutand another said indication of a letter is taken from a second said rowof the QWERTY layout.
 8. A mobile communications device as described inclaim 1, wherein the one or more modules are further configured toprovide text messaging functionality.
 9. A mobile communications deviceas described in claim 1, wherein the one or more modules are furtherconfigured to provide email functionality.
 10. A mobile communicationsdevice as described in claim 1, wherein the one or more modules arefurther configured to provide telephonic functionality.
 11. A mobilecommunications device as described in claim 1, wherein the at least onesaid key also includes an indication of a corresponding number.
 12. Amobile communications device as described in claim 1, wherein selectionof punctuation via the keyboard causes the one or more modules to stopthe prediction of the desired word.
 13. A keyboard comprising: aplurality of indications of letters arranged, one to another, accordingto a QWERTY layout; and two rows of keys arranged such that at least onesaid key includes at least two of the indications from at least two rowsof the QWERTY layout.
 14. A keyboard as described in claim 13, wherein:a first said row of said indications includes letters “q”, “w”, “e”,“r”, “t” and “y”; a second said row of said indications includes letters“a”, “s”, “d”, “f” and “g”; and a third said row of said indicationsincludes letters “z”, “x”, “c”, “v” and “b”.
 15. A keyboard as describedin claim 13, wherein the keys in a first said row are staggered inrelation to the keys in a second said row.
 16. A keyboard as describedin claim 15, wherein: a first said key in the first said row includesparticular said indications that include “q”, “w” and “a”; a second saidkey in the first said row includes particular said indications thatinclude “e”, “r” and “d”; a third said key in the first said rowincludes particular said indications that include “t”, “y” and “g”; afourth said key in the first said row includes particular saidindications that include “u”, “i” and “j”; a fifth said key in the firstsaid row includes particular said indications that include “o”, “p” and“l”; a first said key in the second said row includes particular saidindications that include “s”, “z” and “x”; a second said key in thesecond said row includes particular said indications that include “f”,“c” and “v”; a third said key in the second said row includes particularsaid indications that include “h”, “b” and “n”; and a fourth said key inthe second said row includes particular said indications that include“k” and “m”.
 17. A method comprising: receiving one or more inputs froma keyboard having indications of letters arranged according to a QWERTYlayout across two rows of keys such that at least one said key includesat least two said indications of letters from different rows of theQWERTY layout; and predicting a word based on the one or more inputs.18. A method as described in claim 17, wherein the predicting isperformed for a plurality of said words to form a phrase.
 19. A methodas described in claim 17, outputting the predicted word.
 20. A method asdescribed in claim 19, wherein the outputting is performed such that thepredicted word is verifiable as being intended by a user that providedthe one or more inputs.